Clothes-line holder



(No Model.)

T. GHAPIN.

CLOTHES LINE HOLDER. No. 441,934. Patented Dec. 2, 1890.

J T 0 E .5 i Q y l- 1 a mliijj iw INVEJVTUKR UNITED grams P TENT UFFICE.

'lllEOPl-IILE CHAPIN, OF \VEST 'ITORRING'ION, CONNECTICUT.

CLOTHES-LINE HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 441,934, dated December 2, 1890.

Application filed May 15, 1890. Serial No. 351,849- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

3e it known that I, THEOPHILE CHAPIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at est 'lorrington, in the county of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes-Line Holders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object the production of a suitable holder for clothes-lines, adapted for general use upon endless or double lines, which will act to prevent the line to which the clothes are attached from sagging, and will act at all times to divide the strain equally between the two lines, or rather the two halves of the endless line. With these ends in view I have devised the simple and novel construction of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, isa specification, numbers and letters being used to denote the several parts.

Figure 1 is an elevation illustrating my novel holder in use, and Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively side and end elevations of the holder.

It will of course be apparent that myinvention is adapted for use wherever endless or double lines are used, whetherit is in yards, on the roofs of buildings, or in open spaces between buildings, and without regard to the special manner in which the line is suspended. For convenience in illustration I have shown the line as suspended in the simplest way possible that is, running over pulleys at the opposite ends of the double line.

1 denotes an endless line, which may be either a wire or textile rope, and 2 pulleys at the opposite ends thereof, around which the line is passed, it being of course immaterial whether the pulleys are attached to the walls of buildings or to poles, as shown in the drawings.

My novel holder consists, essentially, of an elongated carrier denoted by 3, having a slot 4: through it from end to end. At the upper end of the slot I place a pulley 5. In use both halves of the line lie within this slot, the pulley resting upon the upper half of the line, as clearly shown.

In order that the holder may be readily placed upon the line or removed therefrom, and, furthermore, that it may be locked in any desired position on the line, I provide an opening 6 at the bottom of the carrier leading into the slot, and pivot to the loose end of the carrier at one side of the slot a swinging clamp 7, having at its outer end a set-screw S. In placing the holder in position on the line, or when it is not desired to lock it in position on the lower half of the line, the set-screw is loosened and the clamp allowed to drop down. When it is desired to lock the holder in position,the clamp is swung upward, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, so as to inclose the opposite side of the carrier, and the set-screw is tightened up, thereby clamping the two sides of the carrier firmly against the lower half of the line and locking the holder in position thereon.

The operation is as follows: Suppose the line to be out of reach from the ground. Itis of course necessary that the operator should reach the line at one place, preferably one end. In the present instance we will suppose that the operator is working from the right, either from a window or by standing on a step-ladder. Having hung a few articles of clothing upon the portion of the lowerhalf of the end less line, which I have denoted by A, the operator locks the holder, which I designate as B,in position asindioated in Fig. 1, and moves it outward by pulling the upper half of the line inward. The lower end of the holder being locked to the lower half of the line, it of course follows that it will be drawn outward with thelowerhalf of the line, the upper half of the line sliding inward freely through the holder. The operator then hangs other articles of clothing upon the portion of the lower half of the line, which I have denoted by. C, aifixes another holder to the lower half of the line, as I have indicated by D, and moves the articles of clothing and holder out by pulling theupper half of the line inward, as before. The operator may then hang other articles of clothing upon the portion of the lower half of the line, whichl have denoted by E, and then atlix another holder in position, as at F, and move holders and clothing out-ward by again pulling the upper half of the line inward, and so on, depending upon the length of the line and the number and weight of the articles of clothing which it is desired to suspend, the number of holders used being'a matter wholly Within the judgment of the operator, it being ordinarily quite sufficient in practice if they are placed eight or ten feet apart. It will be seen that sagging of t-helowerhalf of the line is lessened, and, furthermore, that the strain upon the line caused by the weight of the clothes or by Wind will be divided equally between the tWo halves of the endless line.

Having thus described my invention, I claim A line-holder for endless lines, consisting of a carrier having a slot to receive both halves of the line, an opening into said slot at the bottom, and a swinging clamp pivoted to one 

